Friday, November 23, 2007

George Fox admonished his followers to be aware of their own
similarity to villains and sinners mentioned in the Bible. Rather than
saying “I t is they, they, they who sin and fall short,”
he suggested getting i nto the habit of saying “It is I, I, I
and we, we, we who are in this
condition.” (See Truth
of the Heart, p. 12-15.) Because it has been my
lifelong practice to seek fault nearby rather than far away, and to
see flaws in self and friends more readily than in real or imagined
enemies, I may give the impression to some of being unduly critical of
my own home and native land. Indeed, many of the blogs here may seem
to fall into the “Blame America First” genre. If that is
how my writings appear, it shows how deceptive appearances can be.

A Buddhist friend of Japanese-American background once told me that
he thinks the most important gift that Japanese Buddhism has to make
to Americans is the practice of expressing gratitude
repeatedlynot only for things for which gratitude is the most
obvious response, but also for things that may seem to invite
expressions of discontent. Not just Japanese Buddhism, but all of
Buddhism encourages practitioners to feel contentment and joy with
even the smallest of good fortune, whether that good fortune is one's
own or belongs to a friend, a total stranger or an enemy. When I am
counting things to be deeply grateful for, one of the first items on
the list is the effects that years of Buddhist practice has had on my
mentality.

Also very high on my personal list of things to feel thankful for
are the Sun, the planet Earth and the country in which I happened to
be born and in which I have lived almost 42% of my life so far. Not
only when the mood strikes, but daily I feel deep gratitude for a
range of blessings found in the United States.

The Constitution. The more
I have studied the founding documents on which the United States was
founded, the more I have come to admire them. Informed by the values
of The European Enlightenment, the Constitution was written by men
who were deeply wary of the abuses of power to which men are prone,
and perhaps especially when they think of themselves as fulfilling
the will of God. The genius of the Constitution is manifested best
in its carefully crafted system of checks and balances, designed to
keep any branch of government from growing too powerful and invasive
in the lives of the ordinary citizen. The spirit of
compromiseeven some rather unfortunate moral compromises, such
as the concessions to slaverypervade the work, and this spirit
of compromise has been one of the greatest strengths of the United
States through the decades.

Location, location,
location. The North American continent has a breathtaking
geographical diversity, most of it beautiful. Surrounded by seas,
the land is relatively safe from attack from the outside, as a
result of which it would be possible to spend nearly all of the
continent's resources on promoting civilization rather than on
military defense.

Excellent neighbors. The
United States is blessed with long, undefended borders with two
peace-loving countries. Canada to the north provides a steady
example of refined multicultural civilization, much of which has
found its way across the borders to enrich the culture of the United
States. Mexico to the south has a vibrantly exciting culture and a
hard-working population, some of which has found its way into the
United States to increase the agricultural and industrial
productivity of the United States. While it is a shame that so many
Mexican and South American families are dependent on workers finding
employment out of their own countries, Americans would be
immeasurably poorer, both economically and culturally, if it were
not for the flow of workers coming from points south.

Religious diversity. Part
of the genius of the Constitution is the first amendment, which
prohibits the formation of a state religion but guarantees right of
association and freedom of belief and freedom of speech. Many
observers have rightly argued that the prohibition of forming a
state religion has allowed the United States to have one of the most
diversified religious populations in the world. The presence of many
kinds of Buddhist, numerous denominations of Christians, Hindus,
Jews, Muslims and Sikhs, not to mention the many religions of
American native peoples.

Ethnic and cultural
diversity. Before Europeans touched foot on American soil,
there were already hundreds of peoples who had learned how to live
on the continent without destroying its resources. Their linguistic,
cultural, and racial diversity made the Americas a remarkably rich
land. Over the centuries this richness has been augmented by waves
of immigrants from all parts of the world, each bringing its own
values and perspectives (not to mention its food!). To its credit,
America has always eventually found ways to embrace everyone who has
come to live within its boundaries, whether they have come
involuntarily as slaves, or have sought refuge after their own
countries have been devastated by wars and natural disasters, and
whether they have come legally or illegally. North America is truly
a melting pot to which everyone who has come to its countries has
made an important and welcome contribution. That the United States
has been part of this multicultural adventure is an occasion of
joyous gratitude.

Thanksgiving holiday.
Although the list of things for which I am grateful is much longer
than I have given here, I am going to close my list by noting my
gratitude to the fact that there is a national holiday set aside
just for giving thanks. Every year people set aside time to give
thanks for their health, their well-being, their freedom, their
relatives, their friends and their many other individual and
collective blessings. Just about everyone, whether or not they feel
a need to thank anyone in particular, pauses to look around them at
all the things worth living for. And this itself is perhaps the most
wonderful gift of all to the people in this land.

I dreamed in a dream

I DREAM’D in a dream, I saw a city invincible to the attacks of the whole of the rest of the earth;I dream’d that was the new City of Friends;Nothing was greater there than the quality of robust love—it led the rest;It was seen every hour in the actions of the men of that city,And in all their looks and words.